Hime Fantasy
by Symphony.In.The.Abyss
Summary: This is my story. 'Her eyes were a different shade of blue...it reminded me of home somehow.' -Chie-centric! /ChieAoi/HaruYuki/ShizNat/ArikaNina- AU; inspired by FFX Fantasy/Adventure/Romance
1. Prologue

**Hime Fantasy**

_**A/N: STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT! I know I have so many fic to tend to, and honestly I've been taking whatevr free time I have to edit some chapters and I am, honestly working on some updates (since they have been so nicely requested) For those who care, Holding Out (NaoNat), Aishiteru (NaruIno), and Samurai Returns (from Musashi) are the fics I'm currently working on. Next chapter for Holding Out, editing Aishiteru then updating, and editing then updating Samurai Returns. I just thought of this idea and I wanted to act upon it. Ehem.**_

_**SO, this is basically a crossover of Final Fantasy X and Mai Hime/Otome in the sense that I'm using the concept of FFX, and well, knowing me there probably will be cameos. Memo that I'm using the CONCEPT, so yeah not everything will be the same…**_

_**Why Aoi as the main summoner, you ask? And why is Chie the main character? Well I'll be very honest and say that Aoi and Chie do not get enough love! AND I HONESTLY THINK THAT THIS FIC WILL PROVIDE THEM WITH LOVE. Ehem, I'm on summer vacation right now so don't worry. I know it's annoying but it's the only way I work, I MUST multitask. And yeah, I feel so bad about not updating for so long; but I suck like that. BUT I DO KEEP MY WORD ABOUT NOT ABANDONING ANYTHING. I'm mostly just rereading and editing 8D Keep your faith in me and I won't let you down. **_

_**If any of you know Final Fantasy as well as I do, you'll know that this will be very long. I predict it will be about 50 chapters long. Oh and it is a crossover of FFX but not so much that you need to play the game in order to understand this fic.**_

_**ANYWAY, ON WITH THE SHOW. Oh and this will be Chie's P.O.V.**_

**Prologue: Star Player Chie Hallard**

There isn't any other rush like this.

The city lights are beautiful and the screaming fans give me energy. The temperature is the same as always, warm with a light wind to give my hair that dreamy push. Night has finally reached my soul and the one thing on my mind: Blitzball. It's the one thing I'm best at and I exercise this to my best ability, where's the proof? Well here they are.

My adoring fans.

"Chie-sama! Can I have an autograph?"

"Hallard-kun! Break a leg out there!"

"Chie-san! Good luck tonight!"

This was all normal to me. Their shining smiles, the frantically waving arms, and the smell of freshly made popcorn. And, sweat? That's the true smell of the game, the sign that greatness is about to wreck havoc on my beloved city of Zanarkand!

By now the fans were getting slightly annoying. My marker was starting to run out of ink as I signed away, and I was starting to run out of patience before the game began. My nose wrinkled in frustration but I managed to keep my smile as dazzling as always to keep the fans happy. Did these people not understand that I have a game to get to?

In 15 minutes I managed to reach the locker room where my team mates all greet me with a loud holler. In the span of a year I managed to make myself the best of the team, like my father before me. It's actually annoying, how much everyone compares me to that old man but I guess they can't help it. I'll show them I'm way better than he ever was and to stop hiding me in his shadows. It's been a long time since the star player of any Blitzball team was a female, and boy was I glad to have such a title. If my old man was here...

"Chie-san!" my captain cuts off my train of thought, "Remember, tonight isn't that important of a game so don't show off all your moves yet."

I nod at him quickly and give him a thumbs up, to be honest with all of you I was a little nervous. Which is, in actually, very rare when it comes to me but, there's this feeling in the pit of my stomach tonight. Hopefully it doesn't interfere with my play.

The bell rings and I make sure I have my whole uniform on. With a few more stretches I run to our half of the stadium and watch as the whole dome fills with water. Every time I watch this I feel chills run down my spine. Blitzball, the sport that brings all of us together. It was nothing like any other sport, nothing like basketball or soccer; that is, if anyone plays those old games anymore. Blitzball was played everywhere and was the main sport for every city, town and village.

What is Blitzball you ask? Well it's basically soccer and football put together, and it's completely played underwater. It's a very difficult sport to train for, you need to be able to breathe underwater for long periods of time and you need incredible arm strength to throw the ball through water.

Its difficulty is sort of why I take so much pride in being so good at it. That and-

"What the?" the nervous feeling in my stomach spikes up as the dome starts to shake out of balance. Fans are screaming for their lives and I look all around me to find a way out. I get up and run as fast as my feet can take me, but I quickly lose balance and fall and fall and fall.

Am I going to die here?

A hooded boy stands before me, "It begins," he mutters, I wonder how he's floating, "Don't cry."


	2. Chapter 1

**Hime Fantasy**

**Chapter 1: I Want to Go Home**

**A/N: I'm going to start warning you now, the characters used and their ages and roles might take a little getting used to. However I do not intend on making them OOC. Anyway, on with the show.**

A strong hand grips mine and my eyes quickly look for the owner of the hand. I'm face to face with a rather sketchy looking woman to be honest, she looked about as old as my father. But, hey, isn't that?

"Chie, hold on," she mutters and pulls me up. I feel no words come as a bright light flashes and all language is replaced with loud screaming.

I find myself on the hard cement, the sound of screaming filling my ears. I feel a little dizzy from...whatever just happened and find trouble getting back up. I squint my eyes and secretly pinch myself in hopes that I just ate too much junk food before my nap and I'm just dreaming. Oh please, please can this just be a dream?

"Midori?" her name suddenly comes back to my mind. She was always there in the background, watching over me. She was a good friend of my old man, apparently.

"Chie, you must fight," it was very direct and somehow urgent. I was annoyed, really annoyed, and I didn't want to fight. This wasn't right, this wasn't happening, this is all a dream.

"Chie!" she yelled again, "There is no choice, you must fight."

Why was she so urgent? I don't see anything, the city was in ruins sure but, what the? The nervousness dissolved and transformed into fear. I had no idea what was going on anymore, and this throbbing in my head didn't seem like it would go away.

CRASH

Four, giant scale-like creatures pierced the cement before us and I finally found the power to get up. Midori had already pulled out a sword and I was still trying to take this all in. The screams were still loud, resonating from the distance and my own scream managed to come out again. The scale-like creatures turned into bug-like creatures and I just knew that no matter how hard I pinched, I wouldn't wake up.

"Chie! You must fight!" she repeats again, noticing my staring.

I shook my head, now wasn't the time to freak out, now wasn't the time to be scared. Midori was right, I need to fight and I need to fight now.

"What do I fight with?" I then ask as the creatures started moving towards us.

She pulls a sword out of nowhere and throws it at me.

"A gift from Tate."

"My old man?"

"Let's see if you know how to use it."

The damn thing was pretty heavy, but I think the strength training from Blitzball was very helpful.

Quickly, I rush in to attack and slash away. When the creature cries out in pain and disappears, I feel a sense of accomplishment take over my fear.

"I did it!" I cry out, turning to Midori whose face hasn't changed from its earlier seriousness.

"What?" I ponder out loud.

Swallowing whatever saliva that had remained in my mouth, I realize that there was a whole army of those things.

"What the heck is going on?" I cry out, my sword feeling a little heavy all of a sudden, "Midori, what..."

"Fiend," she replies, "We must defeat them!"

I nearly fall over as her tone goes from serious to a little playful. She throws off her cape and reveals a worn out battle costume, one that I swear resembles the ones I see on the anime I watch during late nights.

"He's coming for you Chie, I hope you're ready."

I ignore what she says and focus on the task at hand. Launching myself forward I plunge my sword into as many slaves as I can, hoping for the best.

"Chie!" she calls out again, "You can't win like that, we must defeat the source!"

It's so hard to think right now, my head is throbbing, my heart is pounding and my hands are getting sweaty. I feel like crying out but I refuse to show any weakness now. I look around for the origins of these damn things but-

A loud, animal-like cry calls from the distance, and I turn my head towards the direction of the sound. Where the Blitzball stadium used to lie is a huge creature, I'm assuming it's a fiend, and I swear to God that it is coming towards us.

"Midori!" I yell out, hoping that she can tell me what it is. She slices another fiend and looks into the direction that I was previously staring into. Putting her sword away, she looks at me with a little bit of cheeriness tucked away. I'm not sure I understand what she's trying to say with it. I'm not sure I understand anything.

"We called it Sin," she states quite seriously, I wonder if she has multiple personality disorder or something.

Another flash of light obliterates the surrounding area and I feel like I'm being sucked in. I scream and I scream, looking around for Midori. Landing on some sort of platform in front of the huge, glowing vacuum I find myself staring at her standing form as she mumbles quietly to the hole.

"You sure about this?"

She turns back to me and picks me up by my shirt. I start wailing and squirming, mostly because I just didn't want to be here right now.

"You old hag! Let go of me! What's going on?" I start panicking and then I feel a little slap.

"Don't call me an old hag! I'm only 17."

My face scrunches up into even more confusion and I begin to realize that my escape attempts are not going to work.

"Midori!" I yell out again.

"This is it Chie, this is your story. Make the best of it kiddo, this is where it all begins."

And with that she throws me into the vacuum and I could swear that I hear my old man Tate saying 'hey'. But nothing can distract me from this awkward sensation of being pulled into nothingness.

"Midori!"

It was cold. It is cold.

I was alone.

I'm shivering and lying on the cold, wet floor. I swear I just had a dream right now, a nightmare in fact. Opening my eyes I quickly get up to realize that the nightmare hasn't ended.

It's funny, despite having no food, no real shelter, no real protection, no dry clothes, no warmth, the greatest nothing I have right now is someone next to me.

"Midori?" I mumble softly, hoping to hear her call back, whether it was her serious tone or that childish one. I just, needed to hear someone, anyone.

I don't want to be lonely anymore.

Getting up, I take my time to look around. It's dark and cold and everything around me is ruin and rock, that is, whatever I can see. Sighing and seeing the fog of breath as a result, I decide to look for things to make a fire. Although it may seem impossible, I needed to survive somehow and I needed to start somewhere.

After an extensive search I managed to find flint and a withered bouquet. It was a miracle that I produced fire, and huddling up against myself, I kept warm.

I started remembering things, things that I didn't really want to remember.

_I'm younger, and I'm sitting on a dock staring into the ocean, frustrated. Oh yeah, we lost the game that day. Midori comes from behind me._

_"What do you want?" my younger self cries out. There's a sense of malice and anger in my voice._

_"You know that was your fault Chie-kun, that was a horrible call. The team lost because of you."_

_I could feel the anger building up in me now. The smaller me turned around with a glare on her face._

_"You came to tell me that?" That Midori was always so mysterious._

_"It's been ten years kid…Do you miss him?"_

_Him? Oh, my old man. The younger me doesn't respond._

_"I thought you'd be crying by now," Midori mutters, chuckling to herself afterwards._

_A hooded figure appears, hey, that kid looks familiar!_

_"You cried."_

I gasp and all that echoes in this damned place is my own voice. My stomach starts to grumble and I truly wish that I was back home right now.

"I was supposed to win tonight's game and have a good time at the after party," I mutter to myself, a small smile gracing my features thinking about the lights and sounds of home. But it all shattered in an instant and all I could hear was screaming and Midori and my old man.

Suddenly, a giant creature falls from the ceiling, putting out my fire.

"You…YOU FIEND!" I cry out, pulling out the sword from earlier, "That was my only source of warmth!"

It hissed at me and moved in to attack. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared, but I slashed away nonetheless, trying my hardest to stay alive.

"Ah!" it manages to connect to my face, and I could seriously feel the hard sting of the cement as it collides with my back. Fighting the urge to cry out, I get back up ready to fight for my life.

As suddenly as the fiend came out, an explosion occurred and the fiend cries out in pain. I surge of happiness and relief flow through my veins as I turn to see other humans, although oddly dressed, come my way. In particular, these two girls who looked slightly younger than me, in jumpsuits and goggles.

"Thank you so much!" I yell out in gladness, the fiend now blown up into glowing, colourful balls.

I then feel a grip on my hair, and I feel the urge to protest. Three other men emerged from where the two girls had been and they discuss something among themselves in a language I've never heard in my life.

"Let go of me!" I cry out, squirming under their hold.

The girls manage to talk some sense into the men, at least, I hope so and one with brown hair comes up to me, mutter something and punches me in the… stomach?


	3. Chapter 2

**Hime Fantasy**

**Chapter 2: 1000 Years Ago**

**_A/N: Ehem._**

Never have I been so annoyed in my life, but at the same time relieved and feeling safe. At least, sort of safe. They took me onto their ship and my hands are currently tied together, very tightly. They keep on yelling at me in their language and no matter what I just don't know what they're saying. Resistance is futile, is the thought that runs through my head. I stopped squirming after deeming it pointless, and waited for someone to do something to me. The anticipation, the possibility of torture? Or maybe even food, kept me waiting.

The men toss me onto the deck alone and leave. I don't even bother getting up and stare at the darkness that doesn't seem like it will end. This just doesn't feel right, I miss the beautiful lights and the adoring, cute fans.

"Where the heck am I?" I mutter silently, once again resisting the urge to cry out. I hear the doors open and footsteps, two pairs of footsteps to be exact. Turning around I see the two girls who helped me earlier, one with a huge smile on her face, the other looking slightly frustrated. They both had their eyes shining brightly at me, probably just relieved from the strain of those goggles from earlier.

"You!" the blue eyed one cries out, and relief splashes the back of my mind. She speaks English!

"Me?" I reply innocently, looking up at her. Wait, are they going to kill me?

She takes a blade out and I start sweating a little, but in an instant I'm released from my chains. I have no idea how many times I've sighed in relief these past couple of hours.

"What's your name?" she asks, "Where did you come from? Why were you in those ruins?" She seemed very intrigued by my existence, and I started to feel a bit of myself coming back. I smile at her, she was kind of cute after all.

"Chie Hallard, star blitzer of the Zanarkand Abes!" if they were to recognize anything, it'd be my home town.

The two looked a little shocked and then turned to each other, then back at me. The one with the brown hair frowns at me, and the one with the blue hair is clearly not amused.

"Zanarkand?" the brown haired one mumbled, "Did you hit your head or something?" She was blinking quickly and came slowly closer and closer, investigating my body with her big blue eyes.

Hit my head? Probably a lot of times to be honest, but then I begin to recall the random beatings from those men.

"Um, you guys did," I rub my head recalling the pulling of my hair, "and don't your friends know that you shouldn't hit a lady?" It's true, it's rather rude, not that I actually mind. I could tell they were holding back either way.

They both looked at each other again, laughing nervously at my comment. I cross my arms and raise my eyebrow, but my coolness disappeared with the growling of my stomach.

"You must be hungry," the blue haired one states, "Here." she pulls a tray from behind her back and I'm wondering why she didn't offer it to me earlier. Then, as gracefully and quickly as I can I manage to eat all of it.

"Thanks," I say and give both of them my charming smile. The brown one smiles back at me whilst the blue one stays stoic.

That smile seemed almost infectious, "No problem," replies the brown haired one.

"You guys never told me your names," I then mention, pushing my tray to the side and standing up, "It's a little rude don't you think?"

"Arika Yumemiya!" cried the brown haired one. It was funny, her hair made her looking like an ant. I resisted the urge to call her Anty, and simply nod. Her obvious enthusiasm was refreshing, especially in such a gloomy place like this.

"Nina Wang," states the more serious, blue haired one. Her expression didn't really change much since they came out to see me. Her eyes looked a little cold, but she didn't seem to mind me or her partner there.

Now satisfied with knowing their names, I stretch a little, feeling happier to know someone in this place, hoping that they could maybe bring me home. Although, being realistic here, I just know it'll take forever and a day for me to go back home...that is, if it's still there.

"Oh, by the way, why were you guys so mean to me earlier?" All I did was help them defeat a fiend, shouldn't that give me some good rep?

The girl scratched her cheek in embarrassment, a bit of pink in her cheeks. "They all thought you were a fiend, even Nina-chan here," Arika states, I could feel a hint of guilt in her tone. Nina looked at her right away with the mention of her name, then apologetically at me. "But you're not, right?"

I shake my head, "I'm just a girl lost, trying to find my way home."

It was true, I've never been outside of Zanarkand, never ever in my life. That place is all I know, and I thought that it was all I'd ever know. I didn't have any ambitions to travel, I just wanted to play Blitzball, beat my father's records, meet a cute girl, get married and maybe adopt and have a family.

"Back to _Zanarkand_ right?" asks Nina, the way she said Zanarkand made me feel uneasy. "Did you, perhaps, have an encounter with Sin?"

That name again. I curse to myself, the memory of Zanarkand being ruined and the sound of my father's voice. And then me, ending up here, I just don't get it at all. How could this happen? How could this be real? For all I know, things have always been peaceful right? Where did that thing come from? Where did fiends come from? This is all so surreal.

"Yes," I then reply simply, hoping that maybe they can give me an explanation. Maybe they can help me understand what the heck was going on.

They looked at each other again, I find it kind of funny how they always do it at exactly the same time. The two looked like a good duo, and with the way they talked to those other men I bet they're in charge around here. I could probably benefit from that.

"I'm pretty sure that the logical explanation is that you're affected by Sin's toxins."

"Huh?" his toxins? "What?"

Arika sighed and put a hand to my shoulder, "They say that if you get too close to Sin, your head gets all funny and your memories could get distorted or something like that. Maybe you were just dreaming?"

Could that really be it? It doesn't sound very convincing to me. But I must admit that my head definitely feels funny, however that probably was from all the running around and coldness and getting hit in the head. I turned away from them, trying to focus, trying to remember if maybe that was all a dream.

"You said you played Blitzball?" Nina's voice snapped me out of my trance.

"Yeah, like I said," I put my fist to my chest and puff it with pride, "The star player of the Zanarkand Abes!"

The duo looked at each other again, then at me, "Stop saying you're from Zanarkand!" the two chime at once. I pull back a moment and raise my eyebrow at the both of them.

"It was destroyed 1000 years ago, it is now a very sacred and holy place according to Yevon."

What? Yevon? Destroyed? Holy place? 1000 years ago? This is way too trippy, I thought this Sin thing just flung me to some far away place, not 1000 years into the future! I bite my lip, trying to take in this news, and in the back of my head I'm calling out for Midori.

"You might upset someone if you say you're from there," Nina states very firmly, I nod at her tone of voice and start to feel the frustration build up in me again.

I turn away from them and start walking towards the ledges of the boat. I look around into the nothingness and try so hard to come to terms with that fact that I'm probably never going to go home.

"Y-Y-You could go to Luca! We'll bring you there!" cried out Arika, I felt her arm on my shoulder again. I turned to her, tears wanting so badly to come out of my eyes but I refuse to show that weakness anymore.

"Luca is the place where all blitzers go for a huge tournament, maybe you'll find someone you know there," the smaller, ant like girl says calmly this time. I'm not sure about this whole Luca thing, or Sin or the state of my hometown. But I had nothing else to rely on. Pulling the smaller girl closer to me, I find comfort in the warmth from her body. She hugs me back, her small hand rubbing the back of my body. I turn to see Nina looking away from our bodies, a slightly pinkness in her cheeks and I almost find myself laughing for once.

Before I mutter a thanks, the boat starts shaking. I fall on my bottom and slide towards the front end of the boat, almost hitting my head on the railing.

The others on the ship emerged, crying out, "Sin!" and other things in that language.

I look around for Nina and Arika, who were holding onto each other while trying to keep balance. Arika turns to me and pulls out her hand towards me and I reach out for her as well despite how pointless it probably was.

"Chie!"

"Arika!"


	4. Chapter 3

**Hime Fantasy**

**Chapter 3: Besaid**

**DISCLAIMER: I forgot to do this earlier! XD Anyway, I do not own anything, Mai Otome/Hime characters belong to Sunrise and FFX belongs to Square Enix.**

I'm starting to really hate this Sin thing. I wake up floating in the middle of no where, at least here it's sunny and the air feels less constricting. I get up and effortlessly keep myself afloat. From the distance I see a beach and a bunch of people throwing around a...a blitzball! A sense of nostalgia and once again a sense of relief wash over my whole body as something familiar finally shows up. I watch in excitement as they pass it to each other, and in a second it starts flying towards me. Catching it, feeling the grooves on the ball I feel some excitement rushing through my veins.

Time to show these guys how to really pass a blitzball.

Since the distance is pretty far, I decide to show off one of my shooting kicks. Balancing the ball on my head, I hit it upwards and jump into a kick, the ball flying very fast into the hands of, from what I can tell, a female.

"WHOA," she cried out, and very loudly to boot. I smirked at my success and the whole group started clapping for me. The woman starts running down the beach and I start swimming towards the shore. Maybe I can start a new life here, maybe I can join their team and forget about Zanarkand and everything.

By the time I reach the shore, the whole group is surrounding me, and their seemingly captain, surprisingly the female has an expression of awe and shock. She's a busty woman, but I can tell that she's bandaged her chest to keep those things from getting in her way, like I do. She's also a little taller than me, and probably older as well. Her blonde lockes were tied up on a pony tail, giving me clear view to the small bit of purple eyeshadow in the corner of her eyes.

"Do you play for anyone?" she asks, I guess the fact that I came out of no where isn't a big deal.

"The Zanarkand Abes!" I almost slap myself from my stupidity and pride. Biting my tongue afterwards I feel a little sheepish as they all make the same faces that Arika and Nina made.

"What?" the blonde asks again, is it just me or is her voice just that loud?

"Uh...I got to close to Sin and, my um," I have a feeling I'll be telling this story a lot, "head feels all funny, from the toxins."

They all nod, my story managing to be convincing enough. I smile inwardly and outwardly let out another sigh of relief.

"That damned fisk, are you okay?"

Did she just say fisk?

"Um, yeah. I'm okay I guess, I just don't know where I came from, or ever where this place is."

They all gasped and did the cheer used for whenever a team scores. Except, it was a little slower. That's odd.

"Praise be to Yevon that you're still alive kid," the busty blonde says as she finishes her ...cheer? From what she just said I'd assume that that was some sort of prayer. I guess that's what 1000 years does to a tradition.

"What's your name?" she then asks, reaching out her hand towards me, "I'm Haruka, captain of the Besaid Aurochs! It's really great to see another female player like yourself, especially one so talented."

I take her hand and shake it, she has a rather strong grip. "I'm Chie Hallard, it's great to see a female player like yourself being the captain of a team." She smiled and strated scratching the back of her head. I was slightly taken aback by how shy she suddenly became.

"Ah, the captain is so modest!" cried one of the other players. They all laughed at her, and her face turned an even deeper shade of pink. I find myself amused by this, but then her face changed and she yelled at the others, telling them to shut it. Ah, I guess she isn't the type of person you should make angry. They all listen to her and bow their head apologetically. "Sorry cap'n."

She commands them to continue practicing and starts to drag me down a dirt path. "I'll take you to the village."

As we're walking, I'm absolutely dazzled yet sort of terrified at the nature around us. The trees were huge but the leaves were beautiful, I don't think I'd really mind living here...then it hit me, maybe I should ask about my hometown? It wouldn't hurt would it?

"Ah, Haruka-kun," I begin, she flinches at the term of endearment but doesn't reject its use.

"Yeah?"

"Zanarkand was destroyed 1000 years ago right?" my heart stills aches a bit from the thought, "It's nothing but rock and dust now, right?" I needed to hear it from someone else.

She stopped in her tracks and looks a little upset, she crosses her arms and looks at me, I wonder if that was a bad thing to ask? "You're right kid," she mumbles, "A long time ago, there were a lot of huge cities. All these cities had a lot of machina, or machines, and instead of working, they used machina to do all their errands and played all day."

She didn't look pleased at all by that thought. Zanarkand was run by a lot of machines...now that I think about it.

"Then well, Sin came along and destroyed all those cities, including Zanarkand." I knew it, "And yeah, I think it was about 1000 yeast ago."

Yeast? I decide to shrug it off.

"What is Sin?" What I know so far is that it's a huge fiend that destroys things and keeps on killing everyone except for me. I hope Midori is okay...

"If you ask me, Sin's our punishment for letting everything get out of hand," steam started coming out of her ears, and I almost started fearing for my life, "It sucks, big time. We're getting punished for something people did a long time ago! But hey, everyday, every moment we can, we repent for our sins. It's all we can do, and hopefully, Sin will go away."

Her voice sounded very sincere at the end of that, and by then I was convinced. I wasn't going home, I was stuck here, brought here by Sin, 1000 years into the future where I knew no one and nothing. Great.

Haruka senses my sadness and looks a little confused and shy, I guess she's not used to comforting people. But this look was good for her if you ask me.

"Well, uh, that whole bit about you being part of the Zanarkand Abes! That was hilarious if you ask me," she starts laughing loudly, and I almost begin to chuckle at her trying too hard.

"Thanks, Haruka-kun," I mumble, smiling at her. She gives me a thumbs up and we continue our walk towards this village.

I guess it was time for me to start accepting everything. Arika, Nina and Haruka wouldn't all be lying to me right? It wouldn't make any sense. Right now I decided that I'll trust this Haruka and maybe just start all over again.

By the time we reach the village, I completely ignore the sight of the little huts and feast my eyes on the huge piece of architecture. It was gorgeous to say the least, and I feel awe-struck by it's presence. I wonder what it is?

"Um, before we go in, I have a favour to ask you," her voice is a mixture of sheepishness and urgency, I smirk as I assume what she's going to say next.

"You want me to join your team right?"

She turns to me, with sparkles in her eyes, grabbing my hands she begins to plead.

"I've been playing this game since I was five, and joined the team when I was thirteen. Every day I trained so hard so that we could win at the tournament!"

I raise my eyebrow, her dramatic story almost brought me to laughing.

"For 10 years, we never won a game."

My eyes widened, "No way!" I hope i didn't offend her with that comment. As I felt the grip on my hands tighten I start to sweat a little, "I-I mean, that sucks."

"I'm thinking about retiring after this year," she mutters softly after, "I have more important things to tend to now."

What could be more important than Blitzball? Although, I am thinking this without knowing nothing. My whole life back in Zanarkand revolved around that sport.

"The tournament is in Luca, I'm sure that there will be plenty of people there, and at least one person will recognize you!"

Luca. Like Arika and Nina mentioned before.

"I'll do it," I declare afterwards, giving Haruka a thumbs up. She lets go of my hand and pumps her fist into the air. I could tell that she was an eccentric character, and I was certainly amused by her. Maybe this isn't so bad afterall?

When we finally entered the village, my eyes travelled all over that building. I elbowed Haruka and quickly asked her what it was. She gave me a questioning look, then reminded herself of my situation. I guess people like me don't come out everyday.

"A temple?" I shout out loud, I don't recall ever seeing one of these in person. It was gorgeous. As I started wandering towards it, two girls came from out of no where and looked at me curiously.

"You're the one from the sea right?"

Haruka answered the question for me.

"Well, be careful, there are a lot of fiends out there, and be on watch if Sin manages to come back!" the two quickly retreated into a hut.

"By that look on your face, I'd assume that you have no idea who those people arm?"

Arm? Does she have a speech impediment or something? I decided to ignore the comment again.

"Um, they look like warriors or something," I answer honestly, that's all I can pick up from this encounter.

"Well, they're crusaders! They live to fight Sin." There was a sort of bitter tone in her voice when she said Sin. Well, I'm sure everyone would. I bet he's done a lot of damage, like what he did to my city.

She starts walking again and I look at the hut where those girls escaped into. This Sin thing seemed like a huge problem, I didn't like the idea at all. What would happen if he managed to come back? Would I be transported again?

Haruka was already at the entrance of the temple, and noticing that I wasn't there, she had a small sort of fit. I chuckled to myself and ran up to her, apologizing for my slowness.

"Please tell me you know how to pray," she mumbles, a little frustrated, "Well, it's okay if you don't, I can always help you out, if you ask that is."

The way she worked was a little mysterious but I liked it nonetheless. From the data I've gathered so far, she was eccentric, athletic, dedicated, and caring. A little soft as well, not that I mind. I then recall what she and the rest of the team did when I arrived at the beach, the sign of victory in Blitzball language. Repeating what I did from memory, the blonde girl hit me on the back in congratulations. Almost a little too hard to be honest.

"Well, that's one thing! I'm proud of you Chie!" I laughed nervously at her comment. It made me more than happy that there were some connections to this world and mine. But, as soon as we entered the temple it became extremely clear to me that this was a completely different world from my own.

A chilling, eerie singing enveloped the entire interior of the temple. Haruka ran off to a priest to ask some questions, I decided to admire the many statues here. My instinct told me to pray before these statues, so I did and the priests seemed pleased by my actions. I was completely entranced with these works of art and the possible stories behind them. Carefully reading the plates that identified them, I read out loud.

"Lady Mai, high summoner."


	5. Chapter 4

**Hime Fantasy**

**Chapter 4: Summoner Aoi**

"High summoner?" I repeat, "What in the world is that?"

I gasp a little, hoping I wasn't too loud. The priest walks over to me and I get my excuse ready, "I got too close to Sin, and well you know."

He nodded at me as if saying he understood.

"First of all, summoners practice the sacred art of summoning entities of great power: the aeons. They are sworn to protect the people of Yevon and only a select few are chosen to become a summoner. Aeons hear our prayer and come down to protect us, they are truly a blessing of Yevon."

He practiced the prayer towards the statue, and I repeated his action.

"So what makes a summoner a High Summoner?" I then ask, my original question not being answered.

Before the man could give me an answer, Haruka wanders back over with a serious look on her face.

"It's been way too long," she mutters, "I've got to go check on them!"

"But you know the rules Haruka-san! You cannot interfere!"

I'm a little more than confused right now, but Haruka ignores the priest and storms off towards the staircase in the center of the room, steam seeping from her ears.

"What is she talking about?" I ask the Priest, he doesn't make any moves to interfere with Haruka's plan and simply sighs.

"The apprentice summoner has been in there a whole day, she should have been out by now."

So someone was in there and they haven't come out? This whole summoner's business seems like a huge deal. With the way Haruka was reacting, this could prove bad. So following my instinct I ran up the stairs after Haruka, ignoring the shouts from the priest. Running past Haruka into the doors, I turn around and wink at her and she begins to run after me.

We're on a platform right now and it's descending ever so slowly. I feel a little embarrassed now for doing such a thing in a holy place but nothing can be done now.

"Geez Chie, what's gotten into you?" I guess she forgot that she herself was already going to interfere.

"Well, this seems like something serious," I reply, finding the engravings on the platform to be very interesting, "And some girl is in trouble right? It's only right that we go help her!"

She crosses her arms, "Yukino is not going to like this one bit." She lets out a sigh, "Oh well, you have guts kid and I admire that."

I smile at her compliment as the platform comes to a stop.

"The Cloister of Trials," mutters Haruka, a little troubled. I look around and all I see is a big room and some orbs. "We need to get pass these trials and reach everyone else. In the room beyond, the apprentice summoner is praying to the aeon of this temple. When the aeon accepts the prayer, she becomes a full fledged summoner."

I think I was beginning to understand, even if just a little. So these summoner people were really important and severely respected. Wow, to be praying for about a day now, this girl must be something.

As we go forward, it amuses me greatly how much trouble Haruka has with these trials. Although she has enough pride to prevent me from trying to help and does everything on her own. I'm most entertained by her attempts, and although one thing or another goes wrong, she ended up solving every puzzle.

"To think, we have to do this in every temple we visit," she mutters, gloom written all over her face.

"'We'?" I ask, curious as always.

"The guardians and our summoner," she replies, "We accompany her on her pilgrammage throughout Spira, protect her and help her through all these trials and turbulations."

Huh. Does she mean tribulations? Oh and, this world is called Spira? I hope I remember that.

"In fact, you shouldn't even be here," she sounds troubled again, "Ahh, I'd be so angry at you if this wasn't my fault. And damn, Yukino is going to scold the both of us." I wonder who this Yukino person is? Haruka spoke her name with a really gentle tone. They must be close.

As we pass the final room, we reach a chamber in which I can hear that eerie singing again. A mousy woman with a long flowing dress and doll in her hands comes up to Haruka and starts lecturing her, looking over at me once in a while. I wave silently at her, hoping that would prove me to be a nice person. At the far end of the room there is a decorated door and a preteen, cat like human with a long spear guarding it. Her eyes look curious as they stare at me. They almost glow in the dim light of the room.

Finally finding the courage, I walk up to haruka and this other woman and she begins to scan my appearance.

"Chie, this is Yukino," introduces Haruka. She seems a little cheery so Yukino probably didn't punish her so much.

"Nice to meet you!" I say happily, offering my hand to the mousy woman. Now that I have a closer look she has a sort of a bashful beauty about her. Her hair is short and kinda messy but a style nonetheless. She wears glasses and has a couple of light freckles across her nose. She smiles at me softly, although there's a bit of strictness and seriousness to her expression.

"Haruka told me everything," she replies. I avert my eyes over to Haruka and she gives me a cheeky smile and a shrug.

Suddenly, the ground started moving and the giant decorated door that the cat-like creature was protecting opened. A beautiful, brown haired, blue eyed and did I mention beautiful? girl about my age steps out and collapses into the cat-like creature's arms. Yukino and Haruka quickly run to her side and ask if she's alright. I walk towards her slowly, trying to take in what's happening. She looks directly at me and smiles and I could feel myself blush. Her eyes were a different shade of blue...it reminded me of home somehow and it gave me comfort. I could tell that she was tired, but happy at the same time.

Turning back to her guardians she exclaimed happily, "I did it guys! I'm a summoner now." The cat like girl yelped in happiness and I feel the innocence in the sound of her voice. I somehow started to feel sort of happy, but a little left out at the same time.

When we finally got out my stomach started to grumble again. Both Yukino and Haruka laughed at me, and I scratch my neck sheepishly at the sound. The cat-like girl's name is Mikoto and she and the summoner are off with the other villagers as they celebrate her becoming a full fledged summoner. I look towards them as Yukino and Haruka bring me to a hut, and I could swear she looked back at me.

Although completely foreign to me, the food they provided was absolutely delicious and surprisingly simple. It was soup. I chugged it down happily as my entire insides turned warm. The other two were outside celebrating with the rest while I'm in here finshing my lunch. I start to think about what I'm doing here in this village, about playing blitzball for Haruka, and that beautiful summoner. I wonder what her name is?

Finishing the last helping of soup, I wander outside towards the big commotion. Haruka calls me over and I find myself standing inbetween her and Yukino.

"So uh, Yukino-kun," I begin, Yukino smiles at me, but Haruka gives me a warning glance for some reason, "I-I mean Yukino-san."

"Just Yukino is fine," she replies, looking over at Haruka who quickly turns away.

"Why do summoners, exist? I mean, I understand the whole protecting the people and stuff, but can't the crusaders do that? That girl over there looks so young." I was babbling about my concerns honestly.

"To fight Sin," this coming from Haruka, "Her mother before her, you saw her statue, High Summoner Mai, brought everyone the great Clam."

Huh?

"Calm, Haruka-chan," Yukino quickly said after. I snickered at Haruka's embarrassment, but let Yukino continue, "The Calm is a period of time where there is no Sin. Summoners go on a pilgrammage to bring such an event to the rest of Spira."

Ah, so these summoner people are way more important than I thought, "Wait a second, period of time? That means Sin comes back?"

Yukino looks a little sad, but nods, "That Calm is enough though for the people, and Aoi wants to work hard in order to bring this to Spira."

Ah, so her name is Aoi eh?

The summoner gets up from the rest of the villagers and runs to a wide open space. She looks at Haruka and Yukino and they nod at her. Before I could open my mouth to ask what was going on, Haruka smiles widely at me and points at Aoi.

"Watch this Chie."

It's simply captivating, really. Aoi does this strange, but beautiful dance and twirls her staff around. Magical lights and colours surround her and everyone looks up towards the sky. A giant creature, a bird like creature with a human like body almost, sweeps down before Aoi. It lets out a gentle but loud sound and purrs when Aoi pets it. I was practically stunned, and my mouth almost hung open. I've never seen anything like that in my life, and as scared as I was, I was really excited at the same time.

"Valefor," the blue eyed beauty mutters gently, petting the creature as gently. I assumed by now that it was an aeon. Wow, if no one had told me earlier I'd assume that it was a fiend.

After the show, it flew out back into the sky as Aoi so cutely waves goodbye to it. I find myself admiring her from afar, that is, until I get caught. Her eyes connect with mine and she begins to walk towards me.

_**A/N: Look up Valefor on DeviantArt if you are curious to what it looks like. Hopefully, sometime soon after I update Holding On, I'll be doing some art for this fic so you can see what Chie and the gang look like here.**_


	6. Chapter 5

**Hime Fantasy**

**Chapter 5: Victory!**

_**A/N: Ehem, chapter title, I couldn't help it. XD**_

I start to feel shy, but swallow it quickly to turn on my charm. I give her one of my dazzling smiles and she simply giggles.

"I'm Chie Hallard," I quickly introduce myself. There's a strain in my eyes and I realize that I've been wearing my contacts for too long. I squint a little.

Her smile widens at my troublesome state, "I'm Aoi, nice to meet you Chie-san."

I rub my eyes, "Just Chie is fine."

"Are you okay there Chie?" she starts to approach me and I back away. FInally, I decide to remove my contacts and look for my glasses case in my pockets. I start losing my charm as I fumble to find the case; damn this stupid blitzball uniform has too many pockets! But she's giggling, so at least I must be doing something right.

In the next couple of seconds I manage to find the glasses and sigh with great relief, but, sadly they slip to my fingers and fall to the floor. Her giggling continues, and I no longer have any confidence. She bends over to pick up my specs and puts them on my face for me, causing my cheeks to flush.

"Oh," she says, her giggling stopping, "I like this look better on you Chie-chan."

I'm honoured that she's being so friendly. Before I can thank her though, a small child asks her to play with her. Silently apologizing she walks away with the child, and I simply give her my signature wink.

I decide that I'm a little sleepy and Haruka lets me take a nap in her hut. Relaxing, sleep manages to find me in no time...

_"He's been gone for more than a day now!"_

_They're all looking for him, mom's crying._

_"Where could he be?" she mumbles, tears running down her eyes. I try to comfort her, but this burning feeling on the inside is making me think more about my father's disappearance over her sadness._

_"Don't you even care?" she asks me, shaking my body slightly. I don't respond and simply look away. "You know, you'll never be able to tell him how much you hate him if he never comes back."_

I snap awake as I had another dream regarding my old man. Ever since he disappeared ten years ago, he's all my life has been revolving around, including my fantasy life. I stretch from my place and adjust my glasses; it was never ever a good idea to sleep with them on. Getting up, I step outside to see a huge bonfire burning up in the middle of the city. Once again Aoi is surrounded by the many villagers, and Haruka and Yukino are off in the corner talking to each other. From what I can see, Yukino does not approve and Haruka is trying hard to get her to approve.

I try my best to get close to her, something deep within me wants to talk to her. But everytime I step close to her, the people yell at me to go away. I guess my previous actions at the temple were not forgotten, and I assume my status as someone who got too close to Sin makes me someone sketchy. Instead, I walk towards Haruka who is now standing by herself.

"Oi kid, you interested in Aoi?"

"Naw, not my type," I wonder if she buys that, "that Yukino though-"

She gives me an icy cold death glare, and all my assumptions just turned into fact. I start to chuckle at this sign of jealousy, "Oh Haruka-kun, you're too funny."

Although probably not completely understanding what I mean, she still turns a faint pink, but shakes it off as nothing. "Anyway! Chie, you should formally meet the team."

I feel the ground start to rumble and I look to see the team jogging towards Haruka and I. They have a lot of spirit like their captain, I like it!

"Guys, Chie is going to join our team for my last game and bring us to vistory!" Haruka, along with the rest of the Besaid Aurochs cheer loudly. I cover my ears, hoping that they didn't damage my hearing. Haruka had a loud voice, and I'm pretty sure I'll be hearing it a lot for the next couple of days.

One at a time, they give me their names and I focus really hard to try to remember them for when the game comes along. I decided to give these guys a little push, maybe all they need is a star player to win the game?

"Okay guys, what is our goal?" they better answer correctly.

"TO DO OUR BEST!" Haruka joins along, but they are very, very wrong.

"This is probably why you've been losing all this time Haruka-kun," I say teasingly, enjoying the flustered look on the blonde's face. "So boys, our new goal is going to be: VICTORY!" I tried my best to imitate Haruka's enthusiasm, but sadly my vocal chords don'thave that sort of power. I pause to wait for their reaction, and a huge smile spreads across all of their faces, Haruka's looking a little evil.

"YES! VICTORY!" the captain repeats, doubly as loud as I was. "Maybe we can now even beat that blasted Bubuzuke woman's team..." She turns around and start ranting to herself, and I look upon my new teammates for an explanation.

"Rival," they all sigh at once.

Ah, I understand now. The blonde snaps herself out of her previous state of insanity and turns back to me, "Seriously Chie, I like this new goal of ours. Please kindly lead us to victory." The whole team nods along with their captain and I wink at them in response. Hopefully I can help make Haruka's wish come true and bring them to victory.

"Okay guys, let's do three island laps then rest for tomorrow's trip!" was she serious? Oh no, she's looking at me. "You too Chie-san! You must feel the burn in your legs before you can Blitz with us!"

Today was a rough day as it is, but I decided not to argue with the loud, busty blonde. Following after her in a jog, I begin to regret a little leaving the hut instead of just sleeping for the night.

We finish the jog in the span of 3 hours, an hour per jog. In actuality, the majority of the team passed out at the beginning of the second lap, and Haruka so nicely let them rest. Since I;m so used to endurance training, I show no signs of weakness until the third lap. However, Haruka just kept on going and going and I was so interested in seeing if she would complete the three without a sweat.

The bonfire is still blazing as strong as Haruka's voice as the two of us relax against its light. She's huffing and puffing but keeping a brilliant smiling face.

"I'm surprised you were able to keep up with me Chie."

I rolled my eyes and laughed lightly. I actually slowed down to stay at her pace.

"I think I can really trust you now to lead us to our first victory in 10 years."

She looks really determined and pumped about this whole ordeal, I think I'll slap myself if we end up losing. Before I get to talk to her more, Yukino comes out of no where to fetch Haruka.

"You should go to bed soon as well Chie," she says in a soft tone. It was really refreshing after Haruka's demands for the team to keep up. I nod at her request and Haruka nearly faints onto Yukino's smaller figure. If I could see correctly through these annoying glasses, I can see a red colour in Yukino's cheeks. Ah, love.

When the two disappear from sight, I wipe the sweat and dust from my glasses. I really don't like wearing these, but Aoi seems to like them.

"Hey you."

Speaking of Aoi...

"Hey Lady Summoner," I greet in the most polite voice I can produce, "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

She stretches from her spot, and the soft glow of the moonlight and the intense light of the fire highlight her body in a way that I just can't help but admire. She was so naturally beautiful, I wonder how many times I've told myself that?

"I can't sleep," she replies, sitting across from me, "Not when tomorrow brings me so much excitement."

"Haha, I know what you mean," I laugh a little, thinking back, "Whenever I had a big game the next day, it would take me hours to fall asleep! Being the star player of the Zanarkand Abes brings a lot of pressure you know." Oh shit, I slipped it again.

She giggles and her face lights up even more, if that's even possible. "So it's true what they say? You come from Zanarkand?"

The blue eyed beauty seems genuinely interested, and I can't help but smile at her innocense and excitement. "Do you believe me?" I wonder, she's the only one who's reacted this positively to my experience.

"Yes."

_**A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! I'm glad you're interested :)**_


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